Monday, August 26, 2013

The long awaited project to bring full wireless coverage to the main campus buildings is in the final stages of completion. ITS has deployed 120 new 802.11n access points to Memorial Hall, De La Salle Hall, and Miguel Hall. Our goal is full coverage for all office, academic, public spaces.

We have saturated the buildings in order to provide the best coverage, however wireless signal in our beautiful circa. 1923 main buildings can be challenging. The construction methods and materials used at the time tend to soak and block a tremendous amount of wireless signal. We worked for many weeks to mitigate these effects by choosing the best locations for and numbers of access points and we do not expect dead spots in used areas. If you are having any issues with wireless coverage in any of our covered areas please contact us at: its@manhattan.edu.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Client Services will have EXTENDED support hours for the first 2 weeks of the semester to provide priority support for new and returning Faculty and Students for urgent requests as noted below. Additional support resources within ITS are being allocated to this priority coverage and may result in additional delays for non-urgent requests during this period.

Priority Support: (7AM - 7PM)

JasperNet Account issues such as forgotten username/password

Classroom Technology Support

Network Issues including WIFI

During this time, we will have additional support staff answering the help line (x7973) with the ability to resolve JasperNet Account issues immediately.** ITS has also launched phase I of a new JasperNet Account self-help portal to help activate a new account or retrieve a forgotten username/password for an existing account. To access this new service, navigate to http://start.manhattan.edu

Please be reminded that all non-urgent requests should be sent to its@manhattan.edu or you can call us at x7973. For urgent requests, please call x7973.

We thank
you for your patience.

ITS relies heavily on student workers for many of the day-to-day support requests. Student worker resources are limited the first 2-weeks while we hire new students to replace those that have graduated. If you are a student who is eligible for Federal Work Study, please
submit your resume and brief cover letter to richard.musal@manhattan.edu

** JasperNet account requests will be handled as priority support requests. Users with a personal email on file (Phase II will also use a personal cell phone number on file - available later this Fall) will be sent instructions on how to access their JasperNet account. If your personal email address is not on file, you will be asked to receive support in person between 7AM-7PM.

Friday, August 23, 2013

As with any technology, there eventually comes a time when that technology no longer performs optimally - becoming harder and more costly to maintain, running out of capacity, and operating less efficiently that newer models. The "old" campus telephone system was installed in the 1990's and was desupported by the manufacturer in the mid-to-late 2000s - making it harder and more costly to find replacement parts, run, and maintain. At the same time, we were running out of capacity and did not have the ability to upgrade or add new features.

The process of selecting a replacement system started over 2-years ago and a number of solutions from a variety of vendors were reviewed including innovative cloud-based solutions, campus-hosted VoIP (Voice over IP) systems, more traditional digital/analog systems, as well as hybrid solutions that incorporated one or more of these technologies. With more and more resources needed to maintain the aging telephone system, the "conservative" decision was made in Fall 2012 to move to a new system that most closely matched our existing system, using the incumbent telephone support vendor who had been maintaining our "old" telephone system for a number of years and was most familiar with what was already in place and the requirements for the new system to be deployed.

Installation / Repair

The installation phase of the campus telephone upgrade has been completed. We are aware that a small number of locations that have not been upgraded due to access limitations or inaccurate documentation. Telephone installation resources will be available the first 2 weeks of school to provide priority support for installations and repair requests If you have not received a new phone or need changes to your new phone, please contact phone@manhattan.edu

Please forward all requests for name change (updates and/or spelling changes) to phone@manhattan.edu

Conference Rooms

If you are responsible for reserving or maintaining a conference room with a conference telephone, please test the conference phone prior to scheduling use. We have seen instances where conference room phones were not properly migrated. Issues should be reported to phone@manhattan.edu Early in the Fall semester, ITS will be unveiling a new network-connected (VoIP) portable conference solution for use across campus.

Voicemail Setup

Dialing x7116 (or 718-862-7116) current presents users with a choice of accessing the “old” or “new” voicemail systems. Access to the “old” voicemail system will be removed on Monday 9/9/2013. Please see voicemail transition instructions here for information on retrieving any messages left on the old system as well as performing the intial setup steps for your new voicemail box. Any voicemail message on the “old” system will not be accessible after 9/9/2013. Please note that once your phone was replaced, messages were no longer being delivered to the “old” system.

Voicemail Features

One of the most-requested features delivered by the new telephone system is the ability to forward voicemail messages to your email inbox - providing the ability to receive and check voicemail messages from any network connected device including smartphones, iPads/tablets, laptops, and desktop computers with speakers. Click here opt-in to the Voicemail to Email feature.

It was brought to the attention of ITS by multiple employees
yesterday that a phishing scam email was circulating. A phishing scam
is when the email tries to scare you into clicking a malicious link by
telling you that your account will be disabled or you will run out of
space if you do not take action.

If you ever recieve an email such as this you should carefully
consider it's validity before taking any action. The appropriate course
of action is to contact the valid entity via a valid form of
communication. In the case of Manhattan College ITS this would be to
either call x7973 or email its@manhattan.edu and inform them that you
received such an email. Remember that Manhattan College ITS will never
ask you for your username and password. Whenever any entity asks you
for any personal information always take caution before revealing such
information. In emails always take caution before clicking on any link.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Sunday August 18th our moodle system lms.manhattan.edu was upgraded to the latest major software version and had a new custom theme applied. The system was off line from noontime until approximately 3pm.

Browsers reporting insecure site due to mixture of secure and insecure links on start page. (Resolved August 19 @11am)

The new software version brings us back in line with the latest features and enhancements of the moodle system. The older 2.3 branch was out of date and is slated to be de-supported by moodle in the coming months.

Our custom theme doesn't change the functional aspects of the moodle system but modernizes the stylistic elements and helps moodle conform with the look and feel of the college's web presence.

ITS will be performing necessary computer lab maintenance this week.
Maintenance will occur Wednesday and Thursday evening from 9:30PM -
7:30AM and Friday evening from 5:00PM - 3:00AM. During this time, the
computer labs being imaged would not be accessible and the network in
the library will be noticeably slower than normal. We will put a notice
on the door of the computer lab being imaged to notify users that it is
not accessible.

Monday, August 19, 2013

ITS is working hard all summer behind the scenes to make sure that our infrastructure keeps up with growing demand. A lot of times, you may not even notice the difference in regard to some infrastructure projects. Here are some of the projects being worked on now.

Storage - We are upgrading the storage capacity on our servers to keep up with growing demand on our resources.

Projector Upgrades - Smith Auditorium is getting a brand new mounted projector and larger 16:9 screen on stage. The Chancellor's Room recently received a brand new projector paired with the Pixie control system installed in the Spring. Click here to read the blog post about the Pixie control system installation.

WIFI - The final phase of our multi-year plan to overhaul WIFI coverage on campus is almost complete. 100% WIFI coverage is being extended to all of De La Salle, Memorial, and Miguel halls as shown on our campus WIFI coverage map. As a result, all classrooms and Faculty offices will have access to high-speed 802.11n WIFI.

Classroom Renovations - Six more classrooms were renovated this summer. We took this
opportunity to upgrade the control units which includes a new user
interface. You will also have the benefit of an HDMI cable along with a VGA cable at the podium for your laptop. Rooms that were renovated are: DLS 307 & 312, MGL 307 & 312, HAY 201 & 202

4 Computer Lab Upgrades - RLC 102 & 107, DLS 314 and MGL 110 are all being upgraded this summer. In addition to the new desktops, we are also implementing a couple of software tools to help us better control printing and to monitor both printer and computer usage for more efficient future capacity planning.

Banner Architecture Upgrade - Faster, more reliable, and more secure. The culmination of 2+ years of planning and testing, the upgrade includes the migration to lower-cost/higher-performance hardware distributed between our campus datacenter and a secure remote location to ensure uninterrupted access to critical campus data 24/7. Students and Faculty alike will notice faster performance when using self-service - especially during peak-load periods like online-registration and grading. To read more about the Banner Architecture Upgrade, click here.

Client Services Updates - Client Services North has consolidated into the Jasper office. You can read more about the consolidation here. As was done in the Spring we intend to offer extended hours during the Fall semester. To view Hours of Operation, click here. We are also working on implementing a new ticketing system. This new system improves our ability to track support requests allowing
us to better utilize our resources and communicate with you.

Stay tuned, because as projects come to completion we will update you on what was upgraded and how it affects you.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

If you've logged a service ticket with ITS recently, you will notice that the email you received looks a little different. That's because we've moved to a new ticketing system!

As part of our continued effort to improve customer service we have implemented a new Ticketing system called Team Dynamix. This new system allows us to track all work in our department so we can better utilize our resources and communicate with you.

Aside from the general service improvement you will notice an improved email and survey interface. This system is much more user friendly than the system we have been using for the last 10 years. The surveys you receive will now reference the ticket title and number so you will be better able to rate our service.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Client Services will have limited coverage starting today through
August 23rd. Please leave a voicemail on x7973 or send an email to
its@manhattan.edu if you need assistance. We will get back to you
within a 2 hour time frame. We are working hard to complete summer
projects and mandatory staff training.

Monday, August 5, 2013

All Client Services offices will be closed Monday August 12 - Tuesday
August 13th due to mandatory staff training. Please plan accordingly.
If you have any events planned for the 12th or 13th, please contact
Client Services ASAP so that we can make arrangements with you. We will
respond to any voicemails and tickets received during this period on
Wednesday August 14th. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may
cause.